The news was greeted with praise from those opposed to the plans, who were concerned that the building of a Tesco Express and a block of apartments on the High Street would be hazardous to children on their way to and from Barwell Junior School.

Ian Marriott, former chairman of Barwell Under Threat, a group opposed to the building of the supermarket and flats, said he was glad that children would be able to get to school safely.

He said: “I’m just pleased that common sense has prevailed. We were against the safety aspect of a store and flats being built there when there’s a school nearby and lots of children are walking up and down there during the day.

“It was the safety aspect that we were concerned with, not the fact that Tesco were coming to Barwell. I’ve not got a problem with Tesco or any other retailer, Sainsbury’s or anyone, coming to Barwell. We need the investment in this village.

“The whole design for the store was unsafe. It was purely a matter of safety. We believed that it was an ill-conceived idea from the start.”

It was announced this week that the project would no longer be going ahead although the mega chain has not declared why.

The plans for Tesco to build their shop and 15 flats were first mooted in July 2007 and the first residents heard about it was when plans were pushed through the door.

At the time there was a lot of opposition in the town who thought the arrival of a Tesco in Barwell would be detrimental to the village and would lead to many businesses going bust while some councillors thought it would be a huge benefit to the town.

In December 2008 planning permission for the project was granted but no building work has ever taken place.